The Assault Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABACADADEDAAEAFFGHIH JHBJHHKDDD D L MM L LML AALNOPNOP QRQQRSSPTATIIUV WUXIYZA2YB2C2B2B2D2D 2 E2 E2F2G2F2 H2 I H2I2J2II2 K2L2L2M2AN2M2AO2IIO2 CCDK L2 DQQP2L2Q2 L2| The beating of the guns grows louder | A |
| 'Not long boys now ' | B |
| My heart burns whiter fearfuller prouder | A |
| Hurricanes grow | C |
| As guns redouble their fire | A |
| Through the shaken periscope peeping | D |
| I glimpse their wire | A |
| Black earth fountains of earth rise leaping | D |
| Spouting like shocks of meeting waves | E |
| Death's fountains are playing | D |
| Shells like shrieking birds rush over | A |
| Crash and din rises higher | A |
| A stream of lead raves | E |
| Over us from the left we safe under cover | A |
| Crash Reverberation Crash | F |
| Acrid smoke billowing Flash upon flash | F |
| Black smoke drifting The German line | G |
| Vanishes in confusion smoke Cries and cry | H |
| Of our men 'Gah yer swime | I |
| You're for it ' die | H |
| In a hurricane of shell | J |
| One cry | H |
| 'We're comin' soon look out ' | B |
| There is opened hell | J |
| Over there Fragments fly | H |
| Rifles and bits of men whirled at the sky | H |
| Dust smoke thunder A sudden bout | K |
| Of machine guns chattering | D |
| And redoubled battering | D |
| As if in fury at their daring | D |
| - | |
| No good staring | D |
| - | |
| Time soon now home house on a sunlit hill | L |
| - | |
| Gone like a flickered page | M |
| Time soon now zero will engage | M |
| - | |
| A sudden thrill | L |
| 'Fix bayonets ' | - |
| Gods we have our fill | L |
| Of fear hysteria exultation rage | M |
| Rage to kill | L |
| - | |
| My heart burns hot whiter and whiter | A |
| Contracts tighter and tighter | A |
| Until I stifle with the will | L |
| Long forged now used | N |
| Though utterly strained | O |
| O pounding heart | P |
| Baffled confused | N |
| Heart panged head singing dizzily pained | O |
| To do my part | P |
| - | |
| Blindness a moment Sick | Q |
| There the men are | R |
| Bayonets ready click | Q |
| Time goes quick | Q |
| A stumbled prayer somehow a blazing star | R |
| In a blue night where | S |
| Again prayer | S |
| The tongue trips Start | P |
| How's time Soon now Two minutes or less | T |
| The guns' fury mounting higher | A |
| Their utmost I lift a silent hand Unseen I bless | T |
| Those hearts will follow me | I |
| And beautifully | I |
| Now beautifully my will grips | U |
| Soul calm and round and filmed and white | V |
| - | |
| A shout 'Men no such order as retire ' | - |
| I nod | W |
| The whistle's twixt my lips | U |
| I catch | X |
| A wan worn smile at me | I |
| Dear men | Y |
| The pale wrist watch | Z |
| The quiet hand ticks on amid the din | A2 |
| The guns again | Y |
| Rise to a last fury to a rage a lust | B2 |
| Kill Pound Kill Pound Pound | C2 |
| Now comes the thrust | B2 |
| My part dizziness will but trust | B2 |
| These men The great guns rise | D2 |
| Their fury seems to burst the earth and skies | D2 |
| - | |
| They lift | E2 |
| - | |
| Gather heart all thoughts that drift | E2 |
| Be steel soul | F2 |
| Compress thyself | G2 |
| Into a round bright whole | F2 |
| - | |
| I cannot speak | H2 |
| - | |
| Time Time | I |
| - | |
| I hear my whistle shriek | H2 |
| Between teeth set | I2 |
| I fling an arm up | J2 |
| Scramble up the grime | I |
| Over the parapet | I2 |
| - | |
| I'm up Go on | K2 |
| Something meets us | L2 |
| Head down into the storm that greets us | L2 |
| A wail | M2 |
| Lights Blurr | A |
| Gone | N2 |
| On on Lead Lead Hail | M2 |
| Spatter Whirr Whirr | A |
| 'Toward that patch of brown | O2 |
| Direction left ' Bullets a stream | I |
| Devouring thought crying in a dream | I |
| Men crumpled going down | O2 |
| Go on Go | C |
| Deafness Numbness The loudening tornado | C |
| Bullets Mud Stumbling and skating | D |
| My voice's strangled shout | K |
| 'Steady pace boys ' | - |
| The still light gladness | L2 |
| 'Look sir look out ' | - |
| Ha Ha Bunched figures waiting | D |
| Revolver levelled quick | Q |
| Flick Flick | Q |
| Red as blood | P2 |
| Germans Germans | L2 |
| Good Oh good | Q2 |
| - | |
| Cool madness | L2 |
Robert Nichols
(1)
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